


i'm just a dead man walking tonight

by alex_archer



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, nisha is a life/death witch, technically tim dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21939787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alex_archer/pseuds/alex_archer
Summary: i wrote this based off a strong vibe from youngblood by 5sos---timothy @me, nisha @pandoranmama
Relationships: Timothy Lawrence/Nisha
Kudos: 3





	i'm just a dead man walking tonight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PandoranMama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandoranMama/gifts).



Timothy winced as he wiped the blood from under his nose, the split lip would require a significant amount of chapstick to fix. He holstered his gun and turned to look for Nisha, standing a dozen or so feet away, and he grinned, “That wasn’t so bad!”

She answered by raising her gun and shooting past him, the bullet so close he felt the burn on his ear, and he heard the projectile lodge into something soft behind him. He swiveled in time to see the last psycho drop to the ground.

“Never forget the last man, cowboy… You’re getting lack,” Nisha’s voice carried across the battlefield, despite it being no heavier than a whisper. He, on the other hand, had to croak out a cracking shout.

“Thanks!” and he stepped over a few bodies, the effort making his whole body sore. It wasn’t too bad of a fight, but there was something that nagged and told him it was a bad one regardless. Still, he picked his sore body up and over to her, doing a quick scan before kissing her. The scan was useless, as both of them were covered head to toe in viscera, but he needed to count the limbs. Knowing her, there was a chance she’d be missing one… again.

“You look like shit, cowboy. Let’s get you home,” she grinned up at him, plucking something of his lapel and flicking it away. He scoffed a laugh, doing his best to smudge away some of what he assumed was brain matter off her cheek.

“I could say the same for you. I’m pretty sure you have redder hair than me after this, the blood is caked in there!” His breath caught, the long sentence took the wind from his lungs. “I agree, home.” Timothy staggered forward and they both used the other for support, barely managing to get to the rover before they collapsed on the seats. Nisha, being the more hardy of the two, drove them home and Timothy fought sleep the entire time. He knew if he fell asleep there he’d be out for hours, which was unusual. Normally the adrenaline and fear lingered in him. Nisha knew, and they both tended to each other’s wounds, but Timothy always saw Nisha tending to him despite her own exhaustion time and time again. This time, he suspected, would be no different.

“I think… a bath is in order,” he muttered, without opening his eyes.

“Sounds perfect. We’re home, let's get you inside,” He felt the rover halt, and he opened the door. Nisha came around just in time to catch him as he fell out of the cab, “Woah, there… Hey, Timothy, take it easy… Looks like you got the worst of that fight, let me get you inside.”

“I- I think you’re right… I’ve got a second wind coming on, I feel it,” he joked, putting all his weight on her. His head went fuzzy and his eye flooded with darkness. “Well maybe I was wrong, but I’m lucky I married such a strong badass.”

“Hush now, handsome. The time for flattery will come,” he felt her carry him into the garage, through the house and into the bathtub. Choking back a sob from the pain, he closed his eyes for a moment. The fear in Nisha’s voice had him opening them faster than ever before, “Timothy… You didn’t have this much blood on you before.”

Her hands danced over his chest as he lay limp in the bathtub. He felt the numbness grow up his arms and legs, creeping into his torso as her gentle hands moved fabric away. She poured water, the sting keeping him rooted, as she tried to clear the gore away to see his skin. Her attempt to be gentle was appreciated, but he felt the desperation in the hard press against his stomach, “Timothy, dammit. You should have told me they got you!”

He could hear the tears in her eyes, and he moved his attention off the ceiling to her face, “They didn’t. I- I swear… I didn’t feel anything… I don’t feel… anything.” The numbness had crept up, he no longer felt her hands pressing against him to stave the bleeding.

“No! No, handsome… Not yet. You can’t leave me… Hold on!” Nisha stood, ready to run out of the room and get their first aid kit. Anything to help him, to save him. He used the last of his energy to instead reach up and stop her, grabbing her hand. Nisha stopped mid stride, her hand in his was limp. She only turned back to look as his fell to hang on the side of the tub. Her howling and begging bled into his ears, as she tried to pull him from the bathtub. He fell into her lap as she collapsed to the ground, “Let me save you, Timothy. Please…”

“N-Nish… You can’t… I- I wouldn’t be myself, you know that…” He wished he could feel her touch, her warmth. All he felt was cold.

“I can’t lose you… Not again,” her tears fell on his cheeks, and he found his lips curling into a soft smile.

“I love… you,” with the final breath, he fell back into her lap. His weight quite literally becoming dead weight in her arms. She felt herself go numb, her lips quivering as she pressed a kiss to him one last time.

Time passed as she held him there, the bathroom slick with his blood. She just held him, combing his hair back exactly how he hated it. She combed it away from his eyes, slicking it back so she could see the light scar above his eyebrow. His freckles dusted all the way to the hairline, and she smoothed his eyelids closed with gentle fingers. Reaching out, she grabbed a towel and began to clean his skin.

A small gasp fell out of her lips as she saw the light blush still in his cheeks, the warmth still dissipating. It was then, staring down at the only person she ever truly loved, that she decided this would not be the end to their story. She bent to plant a kiss on his forehead, her lips lingering against his skin as she spoke, “I will bring you back… All of you… But you need to come back to me… Please, handsome.”

Nisha stood, her hands looping underneath his arms to pull him back out through the house. She dragged his body almost one hundred yards out into The Dust, the hot midday sun of the desert familiar on her back. She three her head back to stare at it, reaching her arms and mind out around her. She connected to the plants, her soul seeping through the ground to find the bugs and snakes. She let her mind connect to the animals, skags and blood ants as well as bandits, nearly a mile out in every direction. She pulled her arms in and drained them all, channeling the energy as she beat into Timothy’s chest.

“C’mon, cowboy! Come back to me!” With every pounding of her fists on his chest, she willed his heart to beat. She willed his heart to come back, as well as his soul. Her heart was his, and his was hers. She felt her own life force seeping into his, through her arms and intertwining with the energy from all she drained. By their connection, she reached out to his soul. “Please, Timothy… Breathe!”

She let out a sob as she felt him, his warmth seeping into her mind as well as into his body. She beat down on his heart one last time, almost startling back as his body lurched up. His eyes flew open and he gasped for breath. As he struggled to fill his lungs, Nisha heard her name on the frantic heaves. He reached out for her, and she held him against her chest. Looking down at him, she smiled. His hair had regained it’s youthful bounce, and had fallen back down to resemble his usual mop.

Once he’d calmed down, Timothy looked up at her, “I-I told you not t-to do this… The risk, Nish… I could’ve-”

“But you didn’t. Now you’re back here, with me… We can be together again,” Timothy reached up, his hands were still slick and they shook almost violently, but he grabbed a lock of her hair and threaded through it. The color popped from under the caked blood, the thickest grey he’d seen grow on her when she did magic like this.

“Nisha, you could’ve-”

“But I didn’t. I used the land, the wildlife… It was the hardest pull I’ve ever done, but what happened in Lynchwood didn’t happen again,” Nisha grinned as she flexed her metal fingers. “Grey hair I can deal with, but I don’t have many more limbs to lose. I do have bad news, though… You’ll have to replant your peppers, handsome.”

Timothy groaned, “Not my custom habaneros! It took me years to breed those!” But he grinned up at her. His mind and heart were still heavy with the fear that what she did wasn’t as simple as this. For now, however, he simply pulled her down into a kiss. He whispered against her lips, “Thank you…”

She held him, her thumb caressing his cheek as she stared into his eyes, “I’d do anything for you, my love. I only ask one thing; Don’t die ever again.”

His laugh rang out on the dead land around them, and she was grateful to hear it once more. Both of them did their best to ignore the idea that he might not be the same, and they both tried to cover the dark feeling growing in their guts. If he hadn’t come back fully as himself… then what was he?


End file.
